The authorities have dismantled in Imzouren, in the province of Al Hoceima , a vast network of prostitution and illegal migration led by Moroccans residing in Europe. Several people were arrested during the police operation.
The Moroccan Association for Human Rights (AMDH) denounced on Saturday the mass arrests of sub-Saharan migrants in Morocco, near the borders of Ceuta and Melilla.
The Port Authority of the Bay of Algeciras (APBA) plans to meet with shipping companies, representatives of the Moroccan merchant navy and port authorities on Monday to agree on the exact date for the resumption of maritime links with Morocco.
The resumption of relations between Spain and Morocco will facilitate the rapid return of migrants who arrived in the Canary Islands. In addition to the weekly flight to Laâyoune that transports about 80 migrants to Morocco, two other flights to Casablanca and Agadir will be organized.
The President of the Government of Ceuta , Juan Vivas (PP), welcomed the "new stage" in the relationship between Spain and Morocco, consecrated by the visit of Pedro Sanchez to Rabat on Thursday. According to him, this new cooperation places the autonomous city in a "much better position than before the migration crisis of May".
As Pedro Sanchez is visiting Morocco, the Official State Gazette (BOE) has published this Thursday an agreement between Spain and Morocco on cooperation in the field of security and the fight against crime in all its forms (terrorism, illegal immigration, human trafficking and drug trafficking, etc.).
The massive influx of migrants into Spain from Morocco has dropped sharply since last March, when Spain expressed its support for Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara.
The arrests and expulsions of sub-Saharan migrants living or working in Tangier, near the Ceuta border, have intensified over the past two weeks following Spain’s change of position on the Sahara. The migrants denounce this "unacceptable" attitude of the Moroccan authorities.
Relations between Morocco and Spain are normalizing. After Spain’s change of position on the Sahara, King Mohammed VI has invited Pedro Sanchez to make a visit to Rabat in the coming days and would be ready to authorize the return of minors who arrived en masse in Ceuta in May last year.
The Civil Guard of Ceuta has arrested 14 women, including Moroccans, as alleged perpetrators of trafficking of Moroccan migrants, both minors and adults, to Algeciras.
The Vox party denounced on Monday the arrival of 293 migrants to the Canary Islands over the weekend, stressing that the change in Spain’s position on the Sahara, which ended the crisis with Morocco, has not yet changed the migration situation.
The positive effects of the Spanish government’s decision to support Morocco’s autonomy plan for the Sahara are already being felt. Senior police and Civil Guard officers say this change of position has helped unblock security issues at the borders with Morocco, which have been pending for two years now.